Author: Dick Mangrum

A psychiatrist for the defense testified today that he thought 17-year-old Jesse Osborne could be rehabilitated. Another psychologist, testifying for the state, labeled Osborne “dangerous,” painting a portrait of a pathological liar who would always pose a threat to society. The competing views were the keynote of the second morning of testimony on the second day of the sentencing hearing […]

From the vantage point of the League of Women Voters, the night of October 28 in Westminster was a good example of democracy in action. That was the night that candidates, the public, and the media crowded into the training room of the Westminster Fire Department for a political forum, eight days before the election. Fire fighters take the size […]

Yesterday’s rainy morning made for an accident inside a busy Seneca intersection. No one was reported hurt, but the police say they ticketed a car driver with failing to yield the right of way at 123 and EN 1st Street. Involved was a second vehicle, a truck, that was left smoking—the result of broken radiator. The collision nearly involved a […]

City administrator Scott Moulder and mayor pro tem Ronnie O’Kelley had an extra kick to their gait as they entered the city council’s November meeting. They had just taken a quick look at changes to one block of E. Main Street, between Depot and N. Townville. A storefront that once was a drug store is being renovated for a women’s […]

The Seneca mayor and council gave the first of two required readings last night for a zoning change south of the railroad tracks to allow for a new home development. But one councilman who did not raise his hand, Dana Moore, says he’ll take the time before the final ordinance reading to further evaluate the complaints of a couple who […]

The clearing of trees off 123 near Lindsay Road is believed to be a sign that Seneca can expect work to start on a new apartment complex. In the last year, the city approved a zoning change to accommodate the project. The city’s Ed Halbig says as yet Seneca has not issued a grading permit, although the office of community […]

Gun shots were fired in the parking lot of a Seneca apartment complex. That was two weeks ago, and the police were left with a pair of shell casings and their interviews of witnesses to the incident at the Seneca Gardens Apartments. Now they have a suspect. Anderson resident Tydarius Keyshawn Barnes was arrested Friday and charged with discharging a […]

Oconee Sheriff’s Office has arrested a 34-year old woman near Seneca on charges of exploitation of a vulnerable adult. Arrest warrants against Ashley Ann Taylor allege incidents in and starting in December 2018 in which Taylor acted as caregiver for a man on Utica’s Gammell Street. The affidavit to one warrant states, “The defendant did, on or about 12-4-18, as […]

Investigators testified today that Jesse Osborne carried out extensive online research and discussed his plans before his September 2016 murder of his father and shooting at the Townville Elementary School. In the school shootings, a six-year-old student, Jacob Hall, was killed and a teacher and another student were wounded. Today was the first day of the 17-year-old Osborne’s sentencing hearing. […]